President Donald Trump on Friday stated he was unaware that NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore had not acquired extra time pay for his or her unexpectedly prolonged keep on the Worldwide Area Station (ISS). Donald Trump hinted that he would possibly cowl the extra time prices for the astronauts, who not too long ago returned from area after staying on the ISS for 9 months.
Throughout a press briefing on the White Home, Fox Information’ Peter Doocy knowledgeable Donald Trump that the astronauts hadn’t acquired extra time pay for his or her prolonged keep on the area station, regardless of being entitled to $5 per day—totalling $1,430 for 286 days, The Hill reported.
Additionally Learn | Sunita Williams’ return: How a lot will NASA pay her for 9-month keep in area?
“No one ever talked about this to me. If I’ve to, I’ll pay it out of my very own pocket? OK, I’ll get it for them,” Trump stated.
“Is that each one? That’s not so much. For what they needed to undergo,” the US president added.
Trump then thanked SpaceX’s Elon Musk for returning the astronauts – Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. They returned to Earth early on Wednesday onboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which splashed down within the sea off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.
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For Williams and Wilmore, check pilots for Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, an eight-day mission stretched to greater than 9 months as a collection of helium leaks and thruster failures deemed their spacecraft unsafe. The spacecraft returned with out them in September final 12 months.
“Consider, if we don’t have him (Musk). You recognize, there’s solely so lengthy — though they’re within the capsule up there — the physique begins to deteriorate after 9 or 10 months,” Trump stated on the briefing.
“And, will get actually dangerous after 14, 15 months with the bones and the blood and the entire issues you might have been reporting on very nicely. And, if we don’t have Elon, they might be up there a very long time. Who else goes to get them?” Trump added.
Trump additionally identified that Musk’s electrical automobile firm, Tesla, has been subjected to vandalism and different acts of violence, likening it to the riots of January 6, 2021.
